EFFINGHAM - Knights of Columbus in the Effingham area have found a way to keep the real meaning of Christmas in the public eye this Christmas season, said Eric Koester, chairman of the Keep Christ in Christmas campaign.

"Last year I saw and heard ‘Happy holidays' or ‘Enjoy the holiday season' but rarely a ‘Merry Christmas,'" said Koester, a member of Knights of Columbus Council 665 in Effingham. "Then I was reading the Knight Line newsletter and learned about the Keep Christ in Christmas campaign."

This is what Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson had to say in the article: "In the midst of an increasingly materialistic and secular society, it is all too easy to lose sight of what Christmas really means. We give gifts to each other because it is the day on which we celebrate the ultimate gift: the Christ child, the savior of mankind."

Koester took Anderson's message to heart. "A week later and the 4 feet by 8 feet lighted sign was in front of my home on Route 32/33," he said. This year, Council 665 approved the purchase of eight more signs. On Thanksgiving weekend - just in time for Advent - past Grand Knight Gerald Steppe and Koester put up all nine signs in the Effingham area.

"In addition to the one at my home we put one at our Knights of Columbus Hall, another one at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church and one at Sacred Heart Church," Koester said. "There are signs on North Route 45, thanks to the Gene Niemerg family; on South Route 45, thanks to Robert Hawickhorst; on East Route 40, thanks to the Effingham Area Catholic Charities; on West Route 40, thanks to Jansen's Heating and Air Inc.; and on East Route 33, thanks to Sandschafer Electric Inc."

Koester and Steppe noticed a positive response to the signs even as they were setting them up. "That morning I remember seeing two hunters in a pick-up truck who honked and gave us the ‘thumb's up' as they drove by," he said. "There was a minivan with a small family where the parent's smiled and the kids in the back waved. There were several truck drivers who blew their horns and waved as well."

Koester expects that more signs will be posted as the years go by. "As a result of our campaign this year, several brother Knights have called our hall to order a sign to put into front of their homes," he said. "I am overwhelmed with the positive response our council has received."